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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Top Eleven Enigma 'Solutions' Refuted

Some of the most prevalent ‘solutions’ to Elgar’s Enigma Variations are
listed by Wikipedia,
a virtual clearinghouse of ‘peer reviewed’ theories. Could any of the following
tunes be the unstated Principal Theme to the Variations?

The Principal Theme is a
melody that can be played ‘through and over’ the whole set of Variations including the entire Enigma Theme.

The Principal Theme is
famous.

Elgar made it crystal clear the Enigma Theme is a counterpoint to the unstated Principal Theme. In his first
authoritative biography published in 1905, he explained:

The ‘Enigma’ orchestral-piece is Op. 36. What the
solution of the ‘Enigma’ may be, nobody but the composer knows. The theme is a counterpoint on
some well-known melody which is never heard, the variations are the theme
seen through the personalities of friends, with an intermezzo and a coda, the
last added at the request of friends aided and abetted by Dr. Richter, who
accepted the work on its merits, having received the score in Vienna from his
agent in London, and who at the time had not met with the composer.”[1]

A counterpoint is by
definition a counter melody, hence logic dictates the unstated Principal Theme
must also be amelody. This observation is consistent with Elgar’s character
as a composer as shown by counterpoints he composed to famous themes from
Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. Since the unstated
Principal Theme must be melodic in nature, this obviously precludes from
consideration any symbolic, mathematical or literary themes – popular refuges
for the musical illiterati. A major implication of Elgar’s contrapuntal
condition is the unstated Principal Theme must play ‘through and over’ the entire
EnigmaTheme. Again, this
observation meshes with Elgar’s life history of composing melodic counterpoints
to famous melodies. Like a home standing on its foundation, the Enigma Theme
rests on its foundational Theme. This demands that both must be the same size
(i.e., length), presenting a snug horizontal fit.However, this does not rule out the possibility of a second
mapping using an augmented form of the source melody to produce a
contrapuntally sound mapping.

Before mapping any proposed melody over the
Enigma Theme, it must first be
transposed into a mix of G minor and G major. These alterations between the
minor and major modes are implied by the Enigma
Theme’s odd structure. In measures 1-6 it plays in G minor, continuing in G
major in measures 7-10, returning to G minor in measure 11-16, and closing in G
major in measure 17. Even when granting these generous accommodations, the
top eleven 'solution' melodies flunk the test.

So much for Wikipedia’s staid reliance on the ‘peer
review’ process, an abject travesty that places all the emphasis on peer and nothing on review. In post-modern academia ‘peer review’ has become a euphemism
for straining out a gnat to drink a camel. Such a desperate condition was
diagnosed long ago by Allan
Bloom who warned,
“Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because
reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.” Academics have
grown far too comfortable with their pet theories to permit any light to chase
away the darkness of their blighted intellects. Their mantra is to publish or
perish. Predictably they publish, and just as predictably the truth perishes. Yet
in the end, who needs them? With Google, Blogger and YouTube serving as a
virtual ten pound sledgehammer,
one may apply the necessary force to obliterate these obsolete theories propped
up by the ‘peer review’ process...and Wikipedia.

The case for Ein feste Burg as the unstated
Principal Theme to the Enigma Variations is extensive and persuasive. Confirmation that Ein feste Burg is
the hidden theme is given by a number of different music ciphers in the Enigma
Theme and Variation XIII. Within the Enigma Theme is concealed an ingenious music box cipher,
Elgar’s ‘dark saying’ linked to the Enigma mentioned in the original 1899
program note. Incredibly, Elgar did not take his secret to the grave, but
rather enciphered the answer within the orchestral score. When discovered, the
decrypted answer would remain unguessed just as Elgar
predicted. He even went so far as to encode
the initials for the hidden melody in the Enigma Theme which modulates
between the minor and major modes of G. The accidentals for those two keys are E-flat, F-sharp, B-flat.

The odd nickname for Jaeger’s Variation (Nimrod) is
linked to the title A Mighty Fortress by of one Elgar’s
favorite pastimes, wordplay. When he
gave a copy of Longfellow’s novel Hyperion to
the conductor Hans Richter following
the premiere, Elgar literallygave away the answer.
No wonder he suspected the solution would soon be found. Even the wrong date on
the original score is a revealing clue since it falls on the anniversary of
Luther’s death. According to an alphanumeric cipher within
the Mendelssohn fragments, the missing initials for Variation XIII (***) are
E.F.B. – the initials for Ein feste Burg. The mapping of Ein feste Burg over Nimrodis so self-evident that the
melodic solution to Elgar's Enigma Variations is as plain a pikestaff. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed.